Google Doodle celebrates the 144th birthday of Indian pehlwani wrestling champion and strongman Gama Pehlwan, also called Rustam-e-Hind (Hindi-Urdu meaning Rustam in India) and also by the nickname of the ring,”The Great Gama -whom is believed to be one of the best wrestlers of all timesand undefeated throughout his career of more than 52 years, on the 22nd of May 2022.
What was Gama Pehlwan? Or “The the Great Gama”?
Ghulam Mohammad Baksh Howevertlater referred to as Gama Pehlwan, or “The The Great Gama” – was born on the 22nd of May 1878 at Jabbowal Village in the Punjab Province of what was called British India into a wrestling family famous for producing world-class wrestlers. The wrestler is an Indian pehlwani wrestler as well as a strongman. The mid-20th century was when he was a undefeated wrestling champion in the world.
The tradition of wrestling that was prevalent within North India began to initiate in the late 1800s. The working and middle class people would wrestle in royal gymnasiums. They would gain national fame when exciting contests were won. In these events, the people admired the athleticism of the wrestlers and were impressed by their disciplined life style.
Gama Pehlwan’s training routine consisted of 500 pushups and 500 lunges in just 10 years age. The year 1888 was the time he participated in a lunge match with over 400 wrestlers from across the country , and was crowned. The success of the contest earned him acclaim throughout the states of royal power in India. It wasn’t until the age of 15 that he started wrestling.
In 1910, people were reading Indian newspapers that featured headlines praising Gama Pehlwan as the nation’s hero and world champion. Gama is also seen as a hero because he saved the lives of many Hindus in the aftermath of his time in the division of India during 1947. Gama spent the rest of his time up to his demise in the year 1960 in Lahore which later became area of Pakistan. Islamic Republic of Pakistan.
In the end, Zbyszko became one of the few wrestlers who could wrestle Gama the Great Gama without losing in defeat. Both men were scheduled to meet on the 17th of September 1910. The date was September 17, 1910. Zbyszko did not show up, as expected, so Gama became the victor in default.
Gama was presented with the award as well as was awarded the John Bull Belt. The belt was able to qualify Gama to be referred to as Rustam-eZamana (or World Champion yet not the world’s lineal champion because he didn’t beat Zbyszko in the boxing ring.
In this tournament, Gama Pehlwan defeated some of the top grapplers from around the world “Doc” Benjamin Roller from in the United States, Maurice Deriaz from Switzerland and Johann Lemm (the European Champion) from Switzerland and Jesse Peterson (World Champion) from Sweden. In the fight with Roller, Gama tossed “Doc” 13 times over the course of the fifteen-minute bout.
Gama Pehlwan is currently launching an open challenge to all of the athletes who have won the title of World Champion which included Japanese Judo winner Taro Miyake George Hackenschmidt from Russia as well as Frank Gotch of the United States All of them refused his suggestion to go into the ring to fight.
At some point, in order to compete with any kind of challenge, Gama Pehlwan proposed to take on twenty English wrestlers one after the next. He claimed he could beat each of them, or award the prize money, however no one took to his challenge.
After his return from England, Gama Pehlwan confronted Raheem Bakhsh Sultani Wala at Allahabad. The fight ended up being a lengthy battle between the two major protagonists of Indian wrestling at the time in the case of Gama and he emerged with the victory for the title of Rustam-e Hind, also known as Rustam-e-Hind, the Lineal Champion of India. In later years, when he’d was asked the person who was his biggest competitor, Gama answered, “Raheem Bakhsh Sultani Wala”.
After beating Raheem Bakhsh Sultaniwala, Gama Pehlwan fought Pandit Biddu, who was one of the top wrestlers in India at the time (1916) and beat him to death.
Gama Pehlwan won numerous titles throughout his career, most notably, those of the Indian version of the World Heavyweight Championship (1910) and the World Wrestling Championship (1927) where he received his title “Tiger” following the event.
Gama was even presented with a silver mace from Prince Charles of Wales when he visited India in honor of the legendary wrestler. Gama’s legacy continues to inspire today’s wrestlers. In fact, Bruce Lee is a known admirer of Gama and incorporates elements of Gama’s training into his own training regimen!
In the 1890s and 1910s, Gama Pehlwan went on an unbeaten streak against the most renowned wrestlers in India and only his match with the champion of India ended in an unbeatable draw. Gama later grew his name internationally by taking on and overcoming the top wrestlers from Britain as well as an encounter with world champion Stanislaus Zbyszko. The match also ended in an unbeatable draw.
As he continued his education, Gama Pehlwan eventually defeated both of his opponents in rematches. He was able to earn with the title of Champion of India and World Champion. His playing career was a long one plus more than 5 000 match and he was without defeat.
However, Gama Pehlwan was additionally a popular figure among the population outside the ring. After 1947, British India became independent from Britain and split to become autonomous territories of India and Pakistan in a time period that was marked by a number of protests.
In the time of India’s partition India The Great Gama helped save the lives of a lot of Hindus and then continued to live his life till his demise on the 23rd of May of 1960 in Lahore which was later made part of the newly established Islamic Republic of Pakistan.
Kulsoom Nawaz was Pakistan’s first lady and spouse of Nawaz Sharif, who was the PM of Pakistan was also the grand-daughter of the Great Gama.
The Great Gama Pehlwan Google Doodle
Gama Pehlwan was widely regarded to be one of the top wrestlers to ever. Gama was undefeated throughout his international competitions and was awarded the nickname “The The Great Gama.” The current Google Doodle — illustrated by guest artist Vrinda Zaveri — is a celebration of Gama Pehlwan’s accomplishments in the ring but also his influence and the representation the ring gave him into Indian culture.
The Google Doodle honoring the respected wrestler’s birthday celebrations In the Google Doodle, you can spot Gama Pehlwan, who is standing tall in the midst of his initials “Google.” On his left hand Gama has a gold mace, which was gifted to him by Prince of Wales.
Presently, the doughnut-shaped workout disc, known as Hasli which weighs 100kg is utilized by Gama Pehlwan to perform squats as well as pushups, is located in the National Institute of Sports (NIS) Museum in Patiala, India.